Trends that will define Chennai’s food scene in 2020

We’ve all seen the phase when avocado toasts ruled the menus of restaurants and cafes around the world. Then there was activated charcoal — a black powder that turned our burgers, sandwiches and drinks bear a gory black look. Detox foods were the next big phenomenon that sent the world into a tizzy — detox drinks, detox juices, detox sandwiches — you name it, the food industry had it. Each year has been witnessing some never-seen-before food trends, which have had their influence over what we consume in Chennai too. The year ahead is likely to see a lot of healthier food options, superfoods, super grains, fermented foods in use at restaurants, estimate chefs who have seen the city’s food scene for many years now.

Chef Willi Willson, who has worked with some of the leading restaurants and hotels in the city for more than two decades now, says the future of food could be on a healthier side. “I think we would see the use of greens, sprouts, speciality vegetables like baby cauliflowers and fresh edamame beans, micro-greens and super foods in the year ahead. Food at restaurants could get on the healthier side. With the opening of many new resto-bars, it could allow a chance for chefs to experiment. Ingredients like barley could be seen replacing rice, as a healthier alternative on menus,” says Willi, who has helped set up many restaurants in the city as a consultant chef, including the recently-opened Fika and Mechanics resto-bar. “I also see increasing number of snack bars and pop-ups offering healthy, gluten-free options,” he points out.

In Chennai’s food industry for close to a decade now, chef Mathangi Kumar is one of the few women in the city’s culinary space leading multiple restaurants like That Madras Place, The Summer House Eatery and Patina. With increasing number of vegans in the city, plant-based foods will become more popular, she estimates. “People are becoming more health-conscious. Many athletes, too, are preferring vegan food. So, we can expect to see more organic foods. On the other end, I believe people will start to appreciate local fish varieties sourced through sustainable fishing. I see even top restaurants opening up to explore foods from the hinterlands of the country. I think cafes, restaurants will be celebrating Indian food — be it Maharashtrian or Bengali. Ingredients like jamun fruit, barley, jowar, and millets, which were once popular, are likely to become bigger again. Millets will be substituting commonly-used rice and wheat even at fine-dining spaces,” she asserts, adding, “I think we are through with avocados.”

The city’s food space, however, remains difficult for women to enter, she remarks. “For a woman to open a restaurant on her own is still not easy as it remains male-dominated and unwelcoming for a woman to enter” Mathangi stresses. “Currently, with the economy not being very great, many resto-bars that are opening up in the city are also up for sale. With online food ordering platforms, number of diners at restaurants and cafes has come down. I hope that the year ahead will be better for food space,” she adds.

For chef Koushik Shankar, popularly known as Mad Chef, it is the time for artificial food colours and preservatives to go. “I think the focus will be on artisanal foods, farm-to-table concepts using backyard kitchens, micro-greens. I expect a lot of traditional, nostalgic foods from the 90s, like kamarkattu, to return. I also see the popularity of progressive Indian food growing — wherein traditional foods are served with a modern twist. With easier and cheaper sourcing of exotic ingredients, I expect them to be used more commonly in our city too. Zero wastage menus and fermented foods are another expected trend,” says the chef behind brands like Maplai, Fromage, among others. The chef also remarks that activated charcoal, artificial colouring and chemical additives will fade out.